Kronprins Christian Land Research Articles

Organic geochemistry of Palaeogene coals from Greenland and Svalbard

AbstractThe organic geochemistry and coal petrology of Palaeogene coals from northeast Greenland (Thyra Ø Island and Kronprins Christian Land) and central Spitsbergen (Longyearbyen and Grumantbyen) were studied using Rock–Eval and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry, as well as microphotometry and maceral group analyses. Bulk data and biomarker distributions of the coals demonstrate a low coal rank for both, but a lower coalification degree of coals from Greenland (0.49–0.55% VRr) compared to those from Svalbard (0.68–0.75% VRr). Maceral group analyses revealed relatively similar distributions with a strong predominance of vitrinite. The generally high abundance of hopanoids (hopanes/hopenes and hopanoic acids) implies a strong bacterial reworking of the organic matter, whereas sulphur occurrences indicate a marine influence after organic matter deposition. A great variety of higher plant biomarkers was detected in all coals. Distinctive compounds recorded in the coals are aliphatic and aromatic diterpenoids as well as partly hydrogenated picenes, suggesting strong input of conifers and angiosperms. Pristane/phytane ratios indicate that the organic matter in the ancient swamps was deposited in an oxic, fluvio-deltaic setting at both sites. This study provides a detailed geochemical investigation of understudied coals from northeast Greenland. Moreover, it enhances our understanding of probably interrelated Palaeogene depositional settings from Greenland and Spitsbergen in terms of their palaeoecology, primary input into coal swamps, and individual thermal history. Graphical abstract

The karst and palaeokarst of North and North-East Greenland – physical records of cryptic geological intervals

Carbonate rocks of Neoproterozoic to Silurian age are abundantly distributed around the coasts of North and North-East Greenland. Palaeokarst horizons are particularly well developed within the Portfjeld Formation (Ediacaran – earliest Cambrian) and beneath the Buen Formation (Cambrian Series 2), and there are caves within Ordovician limestones infilled by Caledonian molasse of Middle Devonian age. The youngest karst is a series of caves distributed from Hall Land in western North Greenland to Kronprins Christian Land in eastern North Greenland. Caves within Ordovician carbonates in Freuchen Land are currently the northernmost documented karst caves globally. The caves are mainly open phreatic conduits, any fill that is present is unlithified, and cave collapse is limited to minor breakdown associated with frost shattering. These geologically young caves are consistently located up to a few 100 m beneath the distinctive plateau that characterises the topography of the northern coast, and their identical context suggests that they developed in a single phase of speleogenesis. The caves are exposed where the plateau has been incised by outlet glaciers from the Greenland ice sheet. The timing of cave development in North Greenland is constrained by the mid- to late-Miocene (15–5 Ma) uplift of the plateau surface and the onset of fjord-forming glaciation in the latest Pliocene – earliest Pleistocene (c. 2.7–2.5 Ma). The evidence suggests that phreatic caves in the southern part of North-East Greenland, on C. H. Ostenfeld Nunatak, are of a broadly similar age. The caves of North and North-East Greenland offer a glimpse of large-scale phreatic drainage systems that developed below an uplifted coastal peneplain during Neogene time. They preserve an important part of the geological history of North and North-East Greenland that is otherwise absent from the physical geological record.

Regional impact of Early Cretaceous tectono‐magmatic uplift in the Arctic: Implications of new data from eastern North Greenland

AbstractEvaluation of the regional geotectonic impact of the High Arctic Large Igneous Province (HALIP) in the present‐day northern Atlantic region has been hindered by poor correlation between the Svalbard–Barents Shelf region and eastern North Greenland. New sedimentological and biostratigraphic data from Peary Land and Kronprins Christian Land (Kilen), North Greenland reveal that the Lower Cretaceous palaeogeographic and sequence stratigraphic development of this area is closely comparable to that of Svalbard. The succession records Hauterivian – early Barremian regional uplift and emergence followed by fluvial sedimentation and subsequent transgression in the late Barremian – early Aptian. Recognition of this tectonically forced regression in North Greenland provides a link to a coeval well‐known tectonostratigraphic event in the Svalbard region, and hence to regional tectono‐magmatic uplift heralding the HALIP and the initiation of the Amerasia Basin.

Investigations to constrain retreat of the Greenland Ice Sheet: glacial geomorphology and sampling for cosmogenic exposure dating of the Centrumsø area, Kronprins Christian Land, northeast Greenland

Investigations to constrain retreat of the Greenland Ice Sheet: glacial geomorphology and sampling for cosmogenic exposure dating of the Centrumsø area, Kronprins Christian Land, northeast Greenland

Microbiological observations in the caves of Grottedal, Kronprins Christian Land, northeast Greenland

Microbiological observations in the caves of Grottedal, Kronprins Christian Land, northeast Greenland

The geology of the Centrumsø area of Kronprins Christian Land, northeast Greenland, and lithological constraints on speleogenesis

The geology of the Centrumsø area of Kronprins Christian Land, northeast Greenland, and lithological constraints on speleogenesis

First pre-modern record of the gyrfalcon (Falco rusticolus) in north-east Greenland

Gyrfalcon (Falco rusticolus) is the largest falcon in the world. It inhabits a wide range of climate zones in the Northern Hemisphere, from boreal forests in the south of its range to the arid polar deserts of the High Arctic. In Greenland, because of the harsh, remote environments in which gyrfalcons live, research related to the contemporary and pre-modern periods has been limited to the north-west, central west and central east coasts, with no specific investigations being conducted for the north-east. Here, we report the first pre-modern record of a gyrfalcon in north-east Greenland, located at 80.4°N in Kronprins Christian Land. Skin tissue from a decaying gyrfalcon’s body was radiocarbon dated to 769–944 CE (common era) using a terrestrial-only calibration curve, and 1182–1456 CE using a marine-only calibration curve. Since the gyrfalcon has a mixed terrestrial/marine diet, the actual age can be said to belong between these two groups. This limited data, therefore places the presence of the gyrfalcon in north-east Greenland during a period of prolonged elevated temperatures and climate stress associated with the Medieval Climate Anomaly. Whether the gyrfalcon was part of a larger population or a straggler, and whether the species survived the whole of the Medieval Climate Anomaly in north-east Greenland, is unknown.

Triassic lithostratigraphy of the Wandel Sea Basin, North Greenland

The Wandel Sea Basin in eastern North Greenland forms the northern continuation of the offshore Danmarkshavn Basin and the conjugate margin to the western Barents Shelf south of Spitsbergen. The Triassic succession of eastern North Greenland, up to 700 m thick, spans the Induan (Dienerian) – Norian. The Triassic sediments rest unconformably on Upper Carboniferous and Upper Permian sediments, and are unconformably overlain by Upper Jurassic – Lower Cretaceous deposits. Based on recent fieldwork in the Wandel Sea Basin, five new and revised Triassic formations are described and included in the Trolle Land Group (revised). The Lower Triassic (Induan) Parish Bjerg Formation (revised) consists of marine sandstones, fluvial conglomerates and sandstones, and muddy flood-plain deposits. It is conformably overlain by Lower Triassic (Dienerian – lower Spathian) offshore mudstones with minor sand-dominated intervals of the Ugleungernes Dal Formation (new). The upper Spathian to Ladinian Dunken Formation (revised) is represented mainly by marine sandstones. A marked erosional unconformity characterises the base of the overlying Upper Triassic (Carnian – Norian) Storekløft Formation (new) composed of marginal marine to marine, massive sandstones and conglomerates as well as cross-bedded and biomottled marine sandstones and minor mudstone units. The Isrand Formation (mainly Middle Triassic) consists of laminated mudstones with minor thin sandstone units that were deposited in slope and basin floor settings in the eastern deeper part of the Wandel Sea Basin in Kronprins Christian Land. The Triassic succession of the Wandel Sea Basin represents a well-constrained shallow shelf to deep shelf / basin floor transect and thus forms an excellent outcrop analogue to the time-equivalent intervals in the western Barents Sea basins and the Danmarkshavn Basin offshore North-East Greenland.

The Jurassic–Cretaceous lithostratigraphy of Kilen, Kronprins Christian Land, eastern North Greenland

Kilen, Kronprins Christian Land, contains the thickest and stratigraphically most complete Jurassic and Cretaceous sediment succession in North Greenland. This study revises and formalises the lithostratigraphic framework of these deposits. The work is based on recent extensive stratigraphic field work supplemented by photogeological mapping and biostratigraphic studies, and builds on the earlier stratigraphic work conducted mainly in the 1980s and 1990s. According to the new stratigraphic scheme, the more than 500 m thick Jurassic succession is divided into four formations. The poorly dated Gletscherport Formation comprises lagoonal heterolithic sandstones. The Mågensfjeld and Birkelund Fjeld Formations consist of shallow marine fine-grained sandstones of Bajocian–Bathonian and Kimmeridgian age, respectively. The Kuglelejet Formation comprises mainly shallow marine sandy mudstone and sandstone of Volgian age and includes the mudstone-dominated Splitbæk Member. The Lower Cretaceous interval is estimated to be more than 1500 m thick and is divided into three formations. The Dromledome Formation comprises deep shelf to offshore transition, black mudstones of late Ryazanian to Hauterivian age. It is erosively overlain by unfossiliferous, fluvial and estuarine sandstones of the Lichenryg Formation. The overlying, late Aptian to middle Cenomanian Galadriel Fjeld Formation comprises six members, of which the Tågekyst and Kangoq Ryg Members occur in the Gåseslette area, whereas the Pil, Valmue, Stenbræk and Hondal Members occur in the Kilen Fjelde area. The Galadriel Fjeld Formation is characterised by interbedded mudstones and sandstones from offshore–shoreface environments. The 650 m thick Upper Cretaceous succession is assigned to the Sølverbæk Formation, which is undivided in the Gåseslette area and divided into the Skalbæk and Scaphitesnæse Members in the Kilen Fjelde area. The Sølverbæk Formation is dominated by marine mudstones and sandstonemudstone heteroliths of late Cenomanian to Santonian age. The new lithostratigraphic framework and significant biostratigraphic advances allow a closer correlation of the Mesozoic units between North Greenland and other Arctic basins.

A review of Palaeozoic and Mesozoic tetrapods from Greenland

This article presents a synthesis of Palaeozoic and Mesozoic fossil tetrapods from Greenland, including an updated review of the holotypes and a new photographic record of the main specimens. All fossil tetrapods found are from East Greenland, with at least 30 different known taxa: five stem tetrapods (Acanthostega gunnari, Ichthyostega eigili, I. stensioi, I. watsoni, and Ymeria denticulata) from the Late Devonian of the Aina Dal and Britta Dal Formations; four temnospondyl amphibians (Aquiloniferus kochi, Selenocara groenlandica, Stoschiosaurus nielseni, and Tupilakosaurus heilmani) from the Early Triassic of the Wordie Creek Group; two temnospondyls (Cyclotosaurus naraserluki and Gerrothorax cf. pulcherrimus), one testudinatan (cf. Proganochelys), two stagonolepids (Aetosaurus ferratus and Paratypothorax andressorum), the eudimorphodontid Arcticodactylus, undetermined archosaurs (phytosaurs and both sauropodomorph and theropod dinosaurs), the cynodont Mitredon cromptoni, and three mammals (Haramiyavia clemmenseni, Kuehneotherium, and cf. ?Brachyzostrodon), from the Late Triassic of the Fleming Fjord Formation; one plesiosaur from the Early Jurassic of the Kap Stewart Formation; one plesiosaur and one ichthyosaur from the Late Jurassic of the Kap Leslie Formation, plus a previously unreported Late Jurassic plesiosaur from Kronprins Christian Land. Moreover, fossil tetrapod trackways are known from the Late Carboniferous (morphotype Limnopus) of the Mesters Vig Formation and at least four different morphologies (such as the crocodylomorph Brachychirotherium, the auropodomorph Eosauropus and Evazoum, and the theropodian Grallator) associated to archosaurian trackmakers are known from the Late Triassic of the Fleming Fjord Formation. The presence of rich fossiliferous tetrapod sites in East Greenland is linked to the presence of well-exposed continental and shallow marine deposits with most finds in terrestrial deposits from the Late Devonian and the Late Triassic.

Kossmaticeras in North Greenland

Kilen in Kronprins Christian Land in eastern North Greenland provides a rare opportunity to study Late Cretaceous faunas at high northern latitudes. A well-preserved fauna discovered in concretions includes a rich assemblage of small kossmaticeratid ammonites, which represent a new species, Kossmaticeras (Kossmaticeras) kilenense sp. nov.

Timing and metal sources for carbonate-hosted Zn-Pb mineralization in the Franklinian Basin (North Greenland): Constraints from Rb-Sr and Pb isotopes

Carbonate-hosted Zn-Pb (± barite, fluorite) occurrences in the Franklinian Basin of North Greenland were studied using the Rb-Sr method, applied to sphalerite, and combined Sr and Pb isotope analysis of ore and gangue minerals, to place constraints on their age and genesis. The occurrences are located in the easternmost part of the basin in Peary Land and Kronprins Christian Land, and are hosted by Upper Ordovician to lowermost Silurian dolostones of the Turesø Formation.Sphalerite samples from the Zn-Pb occurrence at Børglum, in Peary Land, reflect undisturbed Rb-Sr systems and return an isochron age of 388±4Ma (MSWD=1.6, 87Sr/86Sri=0.70930±1). Sphalerites and their fluid inclusion fractions from an adjacent Zn-Pb occurrence, at Tvilum, exhibit various degrees of isotopic disturbance caused by secondary fluid overprint. They yield no age, however, reconstructive modelling of their Rb-Sr and Pb-Pb signatures indicates original isotope systematics consistent with the Børglum data. Likewise, due to a lack of suitable samples, no Rb-Sr age could be determined for a third occurrence in southeastern Peary Land at Løgum, however, the time-integrated Pb isotopic evolution of fluorite and calcite from this mineralization over c. 390Ma is compatible with modelled initial signatures for Tvilum and Børglum ores. Consequently, a contemporaneous formation at c. 390Ma can be assumed for all studied locations in Peary Land. For the Zn-Pb occurrence in Kronprins Christian Land farther east, a Rb-Sr sphalerite age of c. 360–365Ma has been obtained through a combined isochron and paleomixing line approach.The absolute ages obtained at the studied occurrences, corresponding to Middle to Upper Devonian ages, are in no conflict with the age of the host dolostones of the Turesø Formation, which placed a maximum age limit for the mineralization. Actually, the fact that mineralization was emplaced at least 50Ma after deposition of the host rocks, which would have been completely lithified by then, warrants the classification of the studied occurrences as epigenetic Mississippi Valley-Type, rather than diagenetic Irish-type. Furthermore, the obtained ages are contemporaneous to the Middle or Upper Devonian to the Lower Carboniferous Ellesmerian Orogeny, indicating that the mineralization likely formed from basinal brines expelled by tectonism and/or hydraulic head caused by Ellesmerian orogenic uplift, as previously suggested for the Polaris carbonate-hosted Zn-Pb deposit (Cornwallis Island, Canada).Pb isotope systematics of base metal mineralization in the Franklinian Basin point to principal metal sources located in the crystalline basement and in basement-derived clastic sediments. These two reservoirs define radiogenic and unradiogenic end components from which lead was mobilized and mixed in different proportions during discrete periods of hydrothermal activity. Distinct thorogenic Pb isotope signatures indicate that specific local sources (lower crustal basement, carbonate rocks and possibly organic-rich shales) were also involved in mineralization.

Des​criptive text to the Geological map of Greenland, 1:500 000, Lambert Land, Sheet 9

The Lambert Land 1:500 000 scale geological map sheet covers a segment of the East Greenland Caledonian orogen extending between latitudes 78°–81°N and longitudes 13°–29°W. The region was geologically mapped in the summers of 1978–1980 and 1993–1995 as part of a regional Survey mapping programme, and the map sheet was printed in 2000. The region covered by the Lambert Land map sheet comprises a northern segment of the East Greenland Caledonides that is in thrust contact with the Caledonian foreland. The contact is an Edipping, NNE–SSW-trending thrust that runs through Kronprins Christian Land from west of Blåsø in the south to the region east of Sjælland Fjelde in the north. The Caledonian foreland succession is exposed in Mylius-Erichsen Land and Amdrup Højland on the west side of Danmark Fjord, and in western Kronprins Christian Land on the east side of Danmark Fjord. The several kilometre thick foreland succession ranges in age from Palaeoproterozoic to Silurian. In western Kronprins Christian Land the undeformed Ordovician–Silurian carbonates of the foreland pass eastwards into the so-called Thinskinned fold-and-thrust belt developed in the same strata that farther eastwards are structurally overlain by the allochthonous Vandredalen thrust sheet. This thrust sheet is in its turn overlain by a group of thrust sheets that make up the mountainous high ground of central parts of Kronprins Christian Land, and structurally form the so-called Western thrust belt; these rock units have a deeper crustal origin. In the extreme east the Nørreland thrust sheet is exposed in a coastal strip that comprises Palaeoproterozoic crystalline gneisses that include eclogite-facies enclaves and units of meta-igneous and metasedimentary rocks.
 Post-Caledonian rocks crop out in the north-eastern coastal parts of the map sheet area, and include sedimentary rocks of early Carboniferous to late Jurassic age that form part of the Wandel Sea Basin succession. Undifferentiated Quaternary deposits, ground moraine, alluvial fans and talus are distinguished where they obscure significant areas of bedrock.

Des​criptive text to the Geological map of Greenland, 1:500 000, Lambert Land, Sheet 9

NOTE: This Map Description was published in a former series of GEUS Bulletin. Please use the original series name when citing this series, for example: Higgins, A. K. (2015). Des​criptive text to the Geological map of Greenland, 1:500 000, Lambert Land, Sheet 9. Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland Map Series 7, 1-29. https://doi.org/10.34194/geusm.v7.4563 _______________ The Lambert Land 1:500 000 scale geological map sheet covers a segment of the East Greenland Caledonian orogen extending between latitudes 78°–81°N and longitudes 13°–29°W. The region was geologically mapped in the summers of 1978–1980 and 1993–1995 as part of a regional Survey mapping programme, and the map sheet was printed in 2000. The region covered by the Lambert Land map sheet comprises a northern segment of the East Greenland Caledonides that is in thrust contact with the Caledonian foreland. The contact is an Edipping, NNE–SSW-trending thrust that runs through Kronprins Christian Land from west of Blaso in the south to the region east of Sjaelland Fjelde in the north. The Caledonian foreland succession is exposed in Mylius-Erichsen Land and Amdrup Hojland on the west side of Danmark Fjord, and in western Kronprins Christian Land on the east side of Danmark Fjord. The several kilometre thick foreland succession ranges in age from Palaeoproterozoic to Silurian. In western Kronprins Christian Land the undeformed Ordovician–Silurian carbonates of the foreland pass eastwards into the so-called Thinskinned fold-and-thrust belt developed in the same strata that farther eastwards are structurally overlain by the allochthonous Vandredalen thrust sheet. This thrust sheet is in its turn overlain by a group of thrust sheets that make up the mountainous high ground of central parts of Kronprins Christian Land, and structurally form the so-called Western thrust belt; these rock units have a deeper crustal origin. In the extreme east the Norreland thrust sheet is exposed in a coastal strip that comprises Palaeoproterozoic crystalline gneisses that include eclogite-facies enclaves and units of meta-igneous and metasedimentary rocks. Post-Caledonian rocks crop out in the north-eastern coastal parts of the map sheet area, and include sedimentary rocks of early Carboniferous to late Jurassic age that form part of the Wandel Sea Basin succession. Undifferentiated Quaternary deposits, ground moraine, alluvial fans and talus are distinguished where they obscure significant areas of bedrock.

Late Ordovician brachiopods from eastern North Greenland: equatorial offshore migration of the Red River fauna

Abstract: Late Ordovician rhynchonelliformean brachiopods, typical of the North American Red River fauna, are found sporadically in the Børglum River Formation of the Centrum Sø area, Kronprins Christian Land, eastern North Greenland. The geographical distribution of this characteristic brachiopod fauna is thus extended to the easternmost extremity of the Laurentian craton. The assemblage compares specifically with the Hiscobeccus brachiopod fauna, based on key taxa such as notably Hiscobeccus gigas (Wang, 1949), and indicates a late Katian age for this part of the succession. For the first time, this typically inland, shallow‐water fauna is found associated with genera like Bimuria, suggesting a transitional marginal facies with outer shelf benthos. The current study describes a Hiscobeccus fauna that lived at the seaward edge of its preferred habitat. Furthermore, an unpublished Hiscobeccus fauna, from the Børglum River Formation of Peary Land, central North Greenland, as well as several occurrences from the Kap Jackson and Cape Calhoun formations in various parts of Washington Land, western North Greenland, are described here. These show a distinct shift from older strata containing H. capax (Conrad, 1842) to younger strata exclusively yielding specimens of H. gigas. As H. gigas occurs in the upper part of the Cape Calhoun Formation in Washington Land, it indicates that the upper boundary of the Cape Calhoun Formation is considerably younger than previous estimates, reaching into the uppermost Katian (middle Cautleyan–Rawtheyan). The Cape Calhoun Formation correlates with the upper member of the Børglum River Formation and further demonstrates that the Hiscobeccus fauna was widespread in Laurentian marginal settings of North Greenland. Even though the Hiscobeccus fauna was pan‐continental during the late Katian (Richmondian), it possesses a strong provincial signal during the later Ordovician. The new occurrences indicate that this fauna extended to the north‐eastern margin of the Laurentian Craton. It lived in close association with cosmopolitan faunal elements that may have been the earliest sign of the succeeding invasion of migrants from Baltica that arrived later during the Hirnantian. The offshore migration of this atypical Hiscobeccus fauna likely demonstrates the path of warm‐water currents as the Centrum Sø locality was located at the equator during the Late Ordovician.

Colophon, content and preface

The East Greenland Caledonides extend from 70° to 81°30′N, and have been the subject of a series of regional mapping programmes between 1968 and 1998. The entire orogen is now covered by five published 1:500 000 geological map sheets. The six papers in this bulletin concern a variety of topics relating mainly to Kronprins Christian Land (79°–81°30′N) and the Kong Oscar Fjord region (72°–75°N). The paper by Smith et al. on Lower Palaeozoic stratigraphy proposes amendments to several stratigraphical units that occur in Kronprins Christian Land and nearby Lambert Land. In the Kong Oscar Fjord region, two new formations are defined for quartzite and limestone/dolostone units that crop out in foreland windows, and the Lower Palaeozoic succession of the fjord region of East Greenland is formally placed in the Kong Oscar Fjord Group. The second paper by Smith et al. describes and formally defines the Neoproterozoic Rivieradal Group of Kronprins Christian Land. The paper by Higgins et al. analyses the thinskinned fold-and-thrust belt that marks the transition between foreland and orogen in Kronprins Christian Land, and presents a balanced cross-section restoration. The two geochronological papers by Thrane report the results of ion microprobe zircon analyses from orthogneisses in the Charcot Land window (72°N), and results of reconnaissance Pb-Pb dating by the stepleaching method.The final paper by Higgins & Leslie reviews the history of geological research in the Eleonore Sø and Målebjerg areas of the Kong Oscar Fjord region (72°–75°N). Recognition that the two areas are part of the Caledonian foreland implies that the two thrust sheets structurally overlying the Eleonore Sø and Målebjerg windows have large displacements (~ 100 km each), and that the 'stockwerke' concept of the orogen that focused on in situ vertical movements can finally be laid to rest.

The Neoproterozoic Rivieradal Group of Kronprins Christian Land, eastern North Greenland

The Rivieradal Group, formally defined here, is confined to the Vandredalen thrust sheet of the Caledonian orogen in Kronprins Christian Land, eastern North Greenland. It comprises a succession of Neoproterozoic siliciclastic sediments that represent the fill of a half-graben basin. The syn-rift Rivieradal Group is overlain by post-rift sediments of the Hagen Fjord Group. The latter succession is present in both the thrust sheet and the Caledonian foreland to the west. In the foreland, where the Rivieradal Group is not represented, the Hagen Fjord Group disconformably overlies Palaeoproterozoic–Mesoproterozoic sandstones of the Independence Fjord Group.

Lower Palaeozoic stratigraphy of the East Greenland Caledonides

The Lower Palaeozoic stratigraphy of the East Greenland Caledonides, from the fjord region of North-East Greenland northwards to Kronprins Christian Land, is reviewed and a number of new lithostratigraphical units are proposed. The Slottet Formation (new) is a Lower Cambrian quartzite unit, containing Skolithos burrows, that is present in the Målebjerg and Eleonore Sø tectonic windows, in the nunatak region of North-East Greenland. The unit is the source of common and often-reported glacial erratic boulders containing Skolithos that are distributed throughout the fjord region. The Målebjerg Formation (new) overlies the Slottet Formation in the tectonic windows, and comprises limestones and dolostones of assumed Cambrian–Ordovician age. The Lower Palaeozoic succession of the fjord region of East Greenland (dominantly limestones and dolostones) is formally placed in the Kong Oscar Fjord Group (new). Amendments are proposed for several existing units in the Kronprins Christian Land and Lambert Land areas, where they occur in autochthonous, parautochthonous and allochthonous settings.

The Caledonian thin-skinned thrust belt of Kronprins Christian Land, eastern North Greenland

Kronprins Christian Land in the extreme north of the East Greenland Caledonides, exposes a thin-skinned thrust belt up to 50 km wide developed in Ordovician–Silurian platform limestones and dolostones of the Iapetus passive margin. This thrust belt is characterised by a series of SSW–NNE-trending and east-dipping Caledonian thrusts with westward displacements of generally a few kilometres each. It passes westwards into undisturbed autochthonous foreland. Based on a line and area restoration, total displacement along a well-exposed WNW–ESE section through the thrust belt amounts to 17.6 km, which represents a shortening of 45% in the line of section. Biostratigraphic control in the limestone and dolostone succession is based on conodonts and macrofossils. The alteration colours of the conodonts provide estimates of maximum burial temperatures, which show that the thickness of the overlying thrust sheets ranged from about 6 to 12.5 km from west to east across the thrust belt. Since the estimated former thickness of the Vandredalen thrust sheet above the thin-skinned parautochthonous thrust belt is insufficient to yield the temperatures attained, higher thrust sheets must once have extended across the region.

Jurassic and Cretaceous palaeogeography and stratigraphic comparisons in the North Greenland-Svalbard region

We present sedimentological comparisons and stratigraphical correlations of the Jurassic and Cretaceous epicontinental shelf deposits of Svalbard and updated descriptions of the shallow-marine North Greenland sediments of East Peary Land and Kronprins Christians Land (Kilen). The Callovian to Volgian Agardhfjellet Formation of Svalbard is correlated to the lower part of the Ladegårdsåen Formation on East Peary Land, and to the Birkelund Fjeld, Splitbæk, and Kuglelejet formations of Kronprins Christian Land (Kilen). The Berriasian to Hauterivian Rurikfjellet Formation (Svalbard) correlates with the Dromledome and Lichen Ryg formations from Kilen and the middle part of the Ladegårdsåen Formation from East Peary Land. The Galadriel Fjeld Formation from Kilen and the upper part of the Ladegårdsåen Formation (East Peary Land) are comparable to the Helvetiafjellet and Carolinefjellet formations of Svalbard. These comparisons between Svalbard and North Greenland are combined with stratigraphical information from neighbouring regions in palaeogeographical reconstructions. Five selected time slices are presented within a setting of the most recent plate tectonic reconstructions for the area.